Drivers and pedestrian crossings

[DarthSydodyas]

I never stop on the crossings, unless I'm sure I can clear it. On the other hand, pedestrians seem to enjoy crossing my path rather then using the designated one just yards from them.

 

[trashpony]

This is a cyclist and a crossing but I think this is a shocking story

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article5903362.ece

 

[beeboo]

London bus drivers have a very bad habit of stopping on pedestrian crossings, which often means you can't actually see the green/red man on the other side of the road.

On Oxford Street I once had to walk around a bus stopped over a crossing like this, only to narrowly avoid being hit by another bus coming through the crossing despite the lights being against him.

The only reason I wasn't hit is because I was peeking cautiously round stationary bus thinking that a cyclist might be coming through. So if it wasn't for cyclists jumping red lights I could have been under a bus

 

[Donna Ferentes]

This is a cyclist and a crossing but I think this is a shocking story

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article5903362.ece

Same story here. It might very well be right to say it's the first prosecution of a carless cyclist in Oxford in living memory (I lived there fifteen years and don't remember one case - I know the spot where the collision took place very well indeed) but I think the chap may be overlooking that having stopped and looked after the kid may well have been taken into account in his relatively small fine.

I like the overtaking of the stationary vehicle. This happens all the time when I get off the bus in the village I mentioned in an earlier post. If I then try and go acrross the crossing, cars zoom past, none of them thinking "ah there's a stationary vehicle just in front of a crossing, I must take care".

 

[Spymaster]

This is a cyclist and a crossing but I think this is a shocking story

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article5903362.ece

Arsehole:

“My problem was that I stopped and helped. If I had carried on, nothing would have happened. I am quite upset about the whole thing.

Also these:

Jason Howard, 36, was fined £2,200 last July for dangerous cycling after he knocked over Rhiannon Bennett, 17, as she walked along a pavement in Buckingham. She later died of her injuries.

In November 2007 Peter Messen, 28, was ordered to do 300 hours of community work after killing a pedestrian while riding his mountain bike on a pavement in Truro, Cornwall. Gary Green died of a fractured skull.

Any motorist who causes death by dangerous driving is almost certainly going to prison.

Why not these fuckwits?

 

[Spymaster]

An unwise strategy where I am since it is considered unacceptable to criticise somebody for their bad driving unless you are in a car yourself.

Where is that?

I always make my feelings perfectly clear to errant drivers/bikers/cyclists (after a quick mental assesment of the likelihood of my being physically overwhelmed ).

 

[Donna Ferentes]

Where is that?

There is a clue to my location in the section marked Location

 

[Struwwelpeter]

Any motorist who causes death by dangerous driving is almost certainly going to prison.

Not true I'm sorry to say. These punishments are about in line with what many motorists get. Yes, "Death by dangerous driving" does carry a prison sentence, but many drivers never even get charged, let alone convicted.

 

[Spymaster]

There is a clue to my location in the section marked Location

Ah, good old Spain, I thought you were talking about Peckham!

I've ridden from Andorra to Sevilla only wearing a helmet when I felt like it. Also remember that one can turn right on those flashing orange gigs at crossings which in theory mean "if no pedestrians" but in practice mean "Pedestrians! take your chances! Your call!"

Not true I'm sorry to say. These punishments are about in line with what many motorists get. Yes, "Death by dangerous driving" does carry a prison sentence, but many drivers never even get charged, let alone convicted.

Well if they're not charged they won't be convicted, obv, but I'd be interested to see figures for sentencing on conviction and reckon (my feeling only) that most go to prison.

 

[Agent Sparrow]

I've ridden from Andorra to Sevilla only wearing a helmet when I felt like it. Also remember that one can turn right on those flashing orange gigs at crossings which in theory mean "if no pedestrians" but in practice mean "Pedestrians! take your chances! Your call!"

Mainland Europe seems nuts to me with the ped crossings where cars can turn right through them. Tbh, I am glad that peds legally are meant to have nothing to compete with on the green man in this country.

As for vehicles going through reds, the nearest crossing to me is probably the worse one I've seen. Generally it happens through a combination of it being a busy junction with traffic that can then find itself in a slow moving jam, and vehicles seeing the amber as a pure extention of green.

 

[moose]

Do zebra crossing rules not apply to cyclists? I rarely see one stop to let people cross.